September 14, 2018

Background

The starch based sugar industry in Turkey is governed by a national quota system, whereby annual quotas are allocated by law to the industry participants. In March 2018, a change to the law meant that Cargill’s annual quota was reduced from 10% of the annual overall starch based sugar quota, to 5%. This change came into effect as of 2018 quota year. The halving of the quota means a 50% reduction in the production of sweeteners at Cargill’s sweeteners facility in Orhangazi. This development is having a significant impact for Cargill’s business in Turkey and the company has had to take immediate measures to ensure that it can remain a viable business in the long term in the country.

The facts

After analysing the Orhangazi facility’s capacity utilization, efficiency and sweetener production operations, the business carried out a mitigation plan across its Turkish operations. The cost cutting measures put in place covered many areas of spending and led to a reduction in force of 16 positions at the Orhangazi plant in April 2018. The selection process was carried out in accordance with Turkish law.

The Union has made claims that Cargill selected only union members for the reduction in force. Cargill did not take into consideration union membership in making selection decisions. Turkish law does not permit Cargill to know the names of any employees who might be union members. Employees were not singled out because they belonged, or intended to join a union, nor was union membership or any other form of activity taken into consideration during the process.

Employee rights at Cargill

As a global company with more than 155,000 employees around the world, Cargill respects the rights of its employees to belong to unions of their choice. In Turkey, as in all the countries where we operate, we adhere to applicable law with regard to our employees’ rights.